Newcastle United have reportedly identified Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix as a potential summer transfer target.
After the breakdown of his relationship with Diego Simeone, Felix was allowed to link up with Chelsea on a straight loan deal in January.
The Portugal international has received the regular game time that he craved at Stamford Bridge, making 14 starts and four substitute outings.
However, at a time when he has contributed just three goals, Chelsea have dropped into the bottom half of the Premier League standings and will not participate in Europe next season.
With Chelsea needing to boost their position with FFP, signing Felix is almost out of the question, with only another straight loan a plausible option.
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Nevertheless, even though that may prove an attractive option to Atletico, the 23-year-old would prefer to be playing Champions League football in 2023-24.
According to Marca, Newcastle are monitoring the situation as Eddie Howe considers strengthening his Magpies squad.
Newcastle still have much work ahead to earn a return to the Champions League, needing to win two of their final three fixtures in the Premier League to guarantee a top-four spot.
That said, Europa League football is guaranteed, and the North East outfit have already started to put together a list of potential targets for the summer.
The report claims that Atletico would prefer to cash in on Felix and have set his asking price at €100m (£87m), a figure which Newcastle may not be willing to meet when breaking their transfer record to pay in the region of £63m for Alexander Isak last year.
Manchester United have also been linked with a future bid for Felix having missed out on the versatile attacker in January.
Darren Plant
